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Qinghai

(Encyclopedia)Qinghai or Tsinghai both: chĭngˈhīˈ [key], province (2010 pop. 5,626,722), c.279,000 sq mi (722,797 sq km), W China. Xining is the capital. Qinghai lies in the Tibetan highlands at an average elev...

Chih-i

(Encyclopedia)Chih-i chēˈ-ē [key], 538–97, Chinese Buddhist scholar and founder of the T'ien-t'ai (in Japan, called Tendai, or Lotus) school of Buddhism. Chih-i produced a conceptual framework that integrated ...

bodhisattva

(Encyclopedia)bodhisattva bōˌdĭsätˈwə [key] [Sanskrit,=enlightenment-being], in early Buddhism the term used to refer to the Buddha before he attained supreme enlightenment; more generally, any being destined...

Linxia

(Encyclopedia)Linxia or Linsia both: lĭn-shēä [key], city (1994 est. pop. 88,200), SE Gansu prov., China. The city is a gateway to the Tibetan areas near the Qinghai and Sichuan borders. It trades in hides and w...

Thai language

(Encyclopedia)Thai language tī [key], formerly Siamese, member of the Tai or Thai subfamily of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages (see Sino-Tibetan languages). The official language of Thailand, Thai is spoken b...

Pali canon

(Encyclopedia)Pali canon päˈlē [key], sacred literature of Buddhism. The texts in the Pali canon are the earliest Buddhist sources, and for Theravada Buddhists, who claim to conserve the original teachings of th...

koan

(Encyclopedia)koan kōˈän [key] [Jap.,=public question; Chin. kung-an], a subject for meditation in Ch'an or Zen Buddhism, usually one of the sayings of a great Zen master of the past. In the formative period of ...

Kangding

(Encyclopedia)Kangding or Kangting both: kängˈdĭngˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 98,960), W Sichuan prov., China, in the Garze Tibetan Autonomous Region. It is a transportation center on the main road from Chengdu to...

Kanishka

(Encyclopedia)Kanishka kənĭshˈkə [key], fl. c.a.d. 120, king of Gandhara. He was the most powerful and renowned ruler of the Kushan dynasty, one of the five tribes of the Yüeh-chih who had divided (1st cent. b...

Kumarajiva

(Encyclopedia)Kumarajiva ko͞omärˈəjĭvə [key], 344–413, Buddhist scholar and missionary, b. Kucha, in what is now Xinjiang, China. When his mother, a Kuchean princess, became a nun, he followed her into mona...